Of Metaphors and Molecules: Figurative Language Bridging STEM and the Arts in Education

Leonardo ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-320
Author(s):  
Danah Henriksen ◽  
Punya Mishra
Keyword(s):  
Language Arts ◽  
Stem Education ◽  
Student Motivation ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Figurative Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Downward Spiral ◽  
Stem Teaching ◽  
Figurative Thinking

STEM education in the United States is often described as being in a downward spiral, when assessed by competency test scores and lack of student motivation for engaging STEM disciplines. The authors suggest this arises from an overly instrumental view of STEM. While STEAM has arisen as a pushback paradigm, the application of STEAM in schools is challenging, and educators are often unclear about connecting STEM and the arts. The authors suggest envisioning STEAM through natural disciplinary interconnections. They focus on the integration of language arts and figurative thinking to blur the boundaries of STEM and the arts, and offer examples of figurative language—such as metaphor, linguistic etymology and synecdoche—for framing STEM teaching and learning.

scholarly journals Best IASL Conference 2017 Paper: Preparing Teacher Librarians to Support STEM Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Melissa P. Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Stem Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Stem Learning ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Integration Of Technology ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Teacher Librarians ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Pre Service Teacher

A current focus in schools in the United States is STEM education, which prepares students for successful employment and post-secondary studies that require unique and more-technically advanced skills through teaching and learning in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This approach is grounded in problem solving, discovery, and exploratory learning, which requires students to actively engage in a situation in order to find its solution. Students engage in STEM learning in many different ways, with technology and digital resources playing an important role. The prominence of technology in STEM education provides leadership opportunities for teacher librarians. Yet, teacher librarians must be prepared to lead in the integration of technology to support STEM education. This report presents identified needs of teacher librarians in regards to supporting STEM education and discusses implications for better preparing pre-service teacher librarians to lead in order to address the needs of a new generation of learners.

STEM Education, Economic Productivity, and Social Justice

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Drew
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Stem Education ◽  
Assembly Line ◽  
The United States ◽  
Young Person ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Economic Productivity ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The World ◽  
K 12

Just as the factory assembly line replaced the farmer’s plow as the symbol of economic productivity at the beginning of the 19th century, so the computer and its software have replaced the assembly line at the beginning of the 21st century. In the United States, and in countries around the world, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education has moved front and center in national discussions of both productivity and social justice. This article will include (a) a review of how the world of work has changed, with a special focus on the history and impact of digital technology since ca. 1970; (b) lessons from research about K-12 education—elementary, middle school, and secondary education—and about higher education; and (c) research about how to increase access to education, and facilitate achievement, for those who traditionally have been under-represented in STEM education. Rigorous research has demonstrated how psychological and sociological factors (e.g., self-concepts, instructor expectations, and social support) often make the difference between student success and failure. To fully contextualize consideration of STEM education, many advocate broadening STEM to STEAM by including the arts, or the arts and humanities, in building educational programs. In today’s world a young person who wishes to secure a better life for himself or herself would be well advised to study STEM. Furthermore, a nation that wishes to advance economically, while reducing the gap between the have’s and the have-not’s, should strengthen its STEM education infrastructure.

The Storytelling Project Model: A Theoretical Framework for Critical Examination of Racism through the Arts

2010 ◽  
Vol 112 (9) ◽  
pp. 2295-2319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Anne Bell ◽  
Rosemarie A. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Staff Development ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Project Model ◽  
Action Networks

Background/Context Research in Europe and the United States shows that racial position shapes and gives voice to the stories people tell about race and racism, and filters how such stories are perceived and understood by listeners. Although not uniformly the case, people from the majority White racial group tend to emphasize forward progress and the declining significance of race. Minoritized people of color more often note the enduring impact of racism as a barrier to racial progress. Purpose This article describes the evolution of a theoretical model for teaching critically about racism and racial stories utilizing the arts. We reflect on the collaborative theory-building process used to develop the model, our use of the arts to create spaces of teaching and learning where racial stories can be unsettled and reexamined, and the potential of this model to guide educational projects in which participants construct alternative stories geared toward social justice. Research Design This is an analytic essay that describes the development of a theoretical construct. Conclusions/Recommendations We discuss plans for future research on the relevance of the model for teachers, teacher staff development, and curriculum design in secondary and post-secondary classrooms and in community-based dialogues and collaborative action networks.

“Know Who They Have in Front of Their Eyes”: A Justice as Praxis Paradigm for Teaching and Learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-107
Author(s):  
Sakeena Everett
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Language Arts ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Secondary English ◽  
Secondary English Language Arts ◽  
Race Ethnicity

Inequitable access to learning opportunities has intersectional consequences for Black students in general and gifted education. Equally important, all students (regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic class, and grade-level), more often than not, lack invaluable opportunities to learn about the innumerable contributions of students and families of color in the United States and worldwide. To address these injustices, Ladson-Billings advocated for a shift from “justice as theory toward justice as praxis.” In this article, I unpack the components of justice as praxis work, and I discuss how I engaged in this work in my secondary English Language Arts (ELA) classroom. I address the following questions: What does it mean “to be seen” from the perspective of a Black male academically high-achieving student? What is needed for teachers to adopt a justice as praxis paradigm to improve their teaching and learning with students who have not been well served in public schools?

scholarly journals Framework for Systemic Change in Undergraduate STEM Teaching and Learning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily R. Miller ◽  
Tobin L. Smith ◽  
Linda Slakey ◽  
James Fairweather
Keyword(s):  
Stem Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Systemic Change ◽  
External Environment ◽  
Change Model ◽  
Educational Innovations ◽  
Sustained Improvement ◽  
Undergraduate Stem Education ◽  
The University ◽  
Stem Teaching

The Framework for Systemic Change in Undergraduate STEM Teaching and Learning provides a change model for improving the quality and effectiveness of STEM teaching and learning at research universities. The Framework recognizes the wider setting in which educational innovations take place — the department, the college, the university and the external environment — and addresses key institutional elements necessary for sustained improvement to undergraduate STEM education.

Outcomes of an Integrated STEM High School: Enabling Access and Achievement for All Students

2020 ◽  
pp. 004208592091436
Author(s):  
Carla C. Johnson ◽  
Toni A. Sondergeld
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Language Arts ◽  
English Language ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
The United States ◽  
Integrated Stem ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
The Arts ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The Impact

There has been considerable movement in the United States toward an integrated approach to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) which leverages English/language arts, social studies/history, and the arts as contexts and tools for solving the grand STEM challenges of our society. Selective STEM schools have been demonstrated as having positive student outcomes, but enroll students based upon academic criteria rather than interest and effectively exclude underrepresented groups in STEM. In this study, we examine the impact of an integrated STEM high school on student academic outcomes. Findings indicate students significantly outperformed the 13 comparison schools in district on American College Testing (ACT) and school exams.

scholarly journals Embracing a Culture of STEM Education: A Qualitative Research Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Laux
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
High Schools ◽  
Stem Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Supportive Leadership ◽  
Qualitative Research Study ◽  
Stem Teaching

The purpose of this study was to explore teacher and administrator perspectives on STEM education and how they demonstrate characteristics of STEM education. The five schools in this study are part of a greater network of elementary, middle, and high schools that collaborate and learn together. Data were collected through interviews with teachers and administrators and observational notes from meetings and other events. Interviews were recorded and transcribed and then coded to look for themes in the data. Findings indicate teachers and administrators view a supportive leadership, teacher buy in, and comfort in teaching STEM as essential to the implementation of STEM initiatives. Without these necessary components, inequities may arise and lead to less opportunities for students. Overcoming obstacles may require a change in mindset to embrace a culture of STEM teaching and learning. Understanding how teachers and administrators view the importance of STEM and benefits of participating in a community of STEM can help understand how to shift the culture of a school to one more inclusive of STEM education.

Art-Informed Pedagogies in the Preparation of Teachers in the United States

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor ◽  
Lynn Sanders-Bustle
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Language Arts ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
The United States ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
Content Areas ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Key Questions

There are several interrelated themes in arts-informed pedagogies and teacher preparation: (1) the arts as tools to improve students’ academic achievement in other content areas such as math, science, social studies, language arts, and foreign language; (2) the arts as holistic and dynamic process for meaning-making; (3) the arts for teachers’ own professional identity and satisfaction (e.g., for teacher reflection, teacher retention, job satisfaction, and relationship-building); and (4) the arts for social change, social justice, and education advocacy work. There are a series of key questions and concerns regarding where, how, and why arts-informed teacher education practices are used, who uses them, and to what end.

scholarly journals Tire Art: Environmental Education through Science, Visual and Language Arts

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Young Imm Kang Song ◽  
Maureen Creegan-Quinquis ◽  
DongSun Min ◽  
HuiKyeong Kang
Keyword(s):  
Language Arts ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
International Project ◽  
Classroom Teachers ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Us ◽  
8Th Grade ◽  
Approach To Teaching ◽  
2D And 3D

This international project examined the use of an arts-integrated approach to teaching and learning 8th grade science and language art. It involved two arts faculty collaborating with classroom teachers in the US and South Korea. In the context of the "Tire Art project”, students and teachers were guided through several 2D and 3D creative interactions emphasizing innovative uses for recycled car tires and bicycle wheels. In this paper, authors discuss the learning that happened through the arts, and the learning that happened (by teachers) of arts integration methods. It is to be noted that integration is not only about the arts. In fact, if teachers take advantage of this approach, they will discover more connections and bridges between various non-art subjects. When teachers are as affected by innovative approaches as the students, they often feel more confident and empowered in their professional competencies.

scholarly journals Rural Teachers’ Cultural and Epistemic Shifts in STEM Teaching and Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-66
Author(s):  
Colby Tofel-Grehl ◽  
Kristin A. Searle ◽  
Andrea Hawkman ◽  
Beth L. MacDonald ◽  
Mario I. Suárez
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Elementary Classrooms ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Rural Teachers ◽  
Teachers Experiences ◽  
Forced Relocation ◽  
Stem Teaching

This article focuses on the ways in which integrated curriculum can improve STEM teaching and learning within rural spaces. Using a design-based research approach, this study focuses on rural teachers' experiences of professional learning and development training as they learn to engage computing and maker technologies in their elementary classrooms as tools for teaching students about difficult histories of immigration, migration, and forced relocation across the United States.

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